Week Ending June 9, 2013. Albums: Rock On A Roll

Queens of the Stone Age’s sixth studio album…,Like Clockwork, enters The Billboard 200 at #1. But it won’t be there for long. Black Sabbath is expected to debut at #1 next week with 13. That would be the first #1 for Black Sabbath (and/or for its star member, Ozzy Osbourne) in a chart career that dates back to 1970.

This is Queens of the Stone Age’s fourth studio album in a row to reach the top 20, but its first to rise above #5. The band first charted in 2002. The new album features guest turns by Elton John, Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl and Jake Shear of Scissor Sisters. The album sold 40K digital copies (out of 91K total), which enables it to also debut at #1 on Top Digital Albums.

By now you know I can’t resist this stuff: Queens of the Stone Age has reached #1 on The Billboard 200 before Kings of Leon. That band’s Come Around Sundown peaked at #2 in November 2010.

And this next item is even loopier. …Like Clockwork is the fifth album with a title that begins with an ellipsis to reach #1. It follows Phil Collins’…But Seriously (1990), Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time (1999), DMX’s …And Then There Was X (2000) and Rob Thomas’…Something To Be (2005).

Sleeping With Sirens’ third studio album Feel debuts at #3. It’s the band’s first top 10 album. Its first album, 2010’s With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear, didn’t chart. Its second, 2011’s Let’s Cheers To This, peaked at #78.

Blake Shelton’sBased On A True Story… jumps from #5 to #4. It holds at #1 on Top Country Albums for the sixth week. That’s the longest run for an album by a male solo artist since Scotty McCreery’sClear As Day spent six weeks on top in 2011. Shelton’s album has sold 625K copies, which puts it in fifth place for the year-to-date. It pulls ahead of The Lumineers’ The Lumineers, which dips to #6 for the year-to-date.

Barenaked Ladies’ 10th studio album, Grinning Streak, debuts at #10. It’s the group’s fourth top 10 album; its first since 2003, which is to say, since its pitch-perfect theme from The Big Bang Theory became one of the most ubiquitous TV theme songs of the past decade. The group first charted in 1994. It had a #1 single in 1998 (“One Week”).

“Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. & Pharrell Williams holds at #1 on Hot Digital Songs for the second week (315K). Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” debuts at #3 (214K). How high will these songs climb on the Hot 100? You’ll find out later today when we post Chart Watch: Songs.

Here’s the low-down on this week’s top 10 albums.

The Top Five: Queens of the Stone Age’s …Like Clockwork debuts at #1 (91K). It’s the band’s second top five album…Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories dips from #1 to #2 in its third week (62K). It has been in the top five the entire time… Sleeping With Sirens’ Feel debuts at #3 (59K). It’s the band’s first top 10 album…Blake Shelton’sBased On A True Story… jumps from #5 to #4 in its 11th week (36K). This is its ninth week in the top 10…Darius Rucker’s True Believers jumps from #6 to #5 in its third week (33K). The album has been in the top 10 the entire time.

The Second Five: Megadeth’sSuper Collider debuts at #6 (29K). It’s the band’s sixth top 10 album…Imagine Dragons’ Night Visions jumps from #8 to #7 in its 40th week (28K). This is its 10th week in the top 10…Florida Georgia Line’sHere’s ToThe Good Times rebounds from #17 to #8 in its 27th week (28K). This is its third week in the top 10…Justin Timberlake’sThe 20/20 Experience holds at #9 for the third week in its 12th week (27K). It has ranked in the top 10 the entire time… Barenaked Ladies’ Grinning Streak debuts at #10 (26K). It’s the group’s fourth top 10 album.

Music From Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby drops from #7 to #11. It’s #1 on Top Soundtracks for the fifth week. It’s more than halfway to matching the feat of Luhrmann’s 2001 soundtrack to MoulinRouge, which was the highest-ranking soundtrack on The Billboard 200 for eight weeks.

Four other albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Alice in Chains’ TheDevil Put Dinosaurs Here dives from #2 to #21. John Fogerty’s Wrote A SongFor Everyone drops from #3 to #14. Little Mix’sDNA drops from #4 to #23. Vampire Weekend’sModern Vampires Of The City drops from #10 to #22.

City & Colour’s fourth studio album, The Hurry & The Harm, debuts at #16. It’s the highest-charting album to date for City & Colour, which is an alias for Canadian singer/songwriter Dallas Green…Portugal. The Man’s eighth album, Evil Friends, debuts at #28. It’s the rock band’s highest-charting album to date.

LeAnn Rimes’Spitfire debuts at #36. It’s her ninth (non-holiday) studio album to be released in the U.S.—and her lowest-charting to date. (Jefferson Starship had a #3 album titled Spitfire in 1976. That was six years before Rimes was born.).

Disclosure’s debut album Settle debuts at #38. The album enters The Official U.K. chart at #1. Disclosure is a British electronic band…The Maine’s fourth studio album, Forever Halloween, debuts at #39.

Adele’s 21 drops out of the top 40 on The Billboard 200 for the first time in its remarkable run. The album drops from #40 to #42 in its 120th week. Only one other album in the Nielsen SoundScan era has spent its first 119 weeks inside the top 40: Shania Twain’s Come On Over, which spent its first 127 weeks in the top 40, from November 1997 to April 2000. Two other albums in the Nielsen SoundScan era logged more cumulative weeks in the top 40 than 21 has so far, but they didn’t spend their first 119 weeks in the top 40. Taylor Swift’sTaylor Swift spent 126 cumulative weeks in the top 40 (but only its first two before falling out of the top 40 and having to start over). Nickelback’s All The Right Reasons spent 122 cumulative weeks in the top 40 (and its first 111).

The Legend Of Johnny Cash jumps from #87 to #77 in its 121st week. The album jumps to #1 on Top Catalog Albums. It’s Cash’s second album to top that chart. 16 Biggest Hits logged 26 weeks at #1 from 2003 to 2006. The Legend Of Johnny Cash reached #5 on The Billboard 200 in February 2006. It ranked #9 on Billboard’s “year-end” chart recap for 2006.

Four original cast albums are on the chart in the immediate wake of the Tony Awards on Sunday night. The cast album from the revival cast of Pippin debuts at #92. The cast album from the original production reached #129 in 1973. The show spawned a top 20 hit on the Hot 100—a cover version of “Corner Of The Sky” by the Jackson 5. The revival won four Tonys on Sunday, including Best Revival of a Musical.

The Motown: The Musical original cast recording debuts at #108. It’s already one of the highest-charting cast albums to a jukebox musical. Mamma Mia! (Abba) peaked at #169 in October 2011. Jersey Boys (The Four Seasons) peaked at #85 in June 2006. The show won no Tonys.

The Kinky Boots original cast album drops from #51 to #116 in its second week (but watch it turn around next week). The show won six Tonys, including Best Musical and Best Original Score Written for the Theatre. Cyndi Lauper won the latter award. She became the first female to, all by herself, win a Tony in that category. Three female lyricists (Betty Comden, Lynn Ahrens and Lisa Lambert) had previously won in the category, but they teamed with male composers on their winning scores.

The cast album from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella debuts at #135. The cast album to the original TV production starring Julie Andrews (which aired on CBS on March 31, 1957) reached #15. The revival won one Tony: Best Costume Design of a Musical.

George Benson’sMy Inspiration: A Tribute To Nat King Cole debuts at #89. The two artists have much in common. Like Cole, Benson was an renowned instrumentalist who gained his greatest fame as a vocalist. Cole was the pianist in The King Cole Trio (which had the #1 album on Billboard’s very first album chart in March 1945). Benson was a noted guitarist before hitting it big with such vocal hits as “This Masquerade” and “On Broadway.” Cole had 13 top 10 albums from 1945 to 1965. He died of cancer in 1965 at age 45. Benson had five top 10 albums from 1976 to 1980. The most successful tribute album to Cole remains daughter Natalie Cole’sUnforgettable With Love, which logged five weeks at #1 in 1991.

Matthew Morrison’s second studio album, Where It All Began, debuts at #95. This was the last album produced by the legendary Phil Ramone. Morrison’s first album, Matthew Morrison, reached #24 in 2011.

Elvis Presley’s Elvis On Tour enters Top Music Videos at #1, displacing Eagles’ History Of The Eagles.

The Purge was #1 at the box-office over the weekend.

Coming Attractions: As noted above, Black Sabbath13 is expected to debut at #1 next week, with first-week sales in the 115K range. Big Time Rush’s24/Seven will probably open at #3 with sales of 40K, followed by the Man Of Steel soundtrack at #4, with sales of 30K. Goo Goo Dolls’ Magnetic should open around #6 (27K). The Lonely Island’s Wack is eying a #10 debut (24K). Three other albums will probably just miss the top 10: Jimmy Eat World’sDamage (#12, 21K), Chrisette Michelle’sBetter (#14, 21K) and Now Country 6 (#15, 19K).